Insider Weekends – July 22, 2016

Welcome to edition 318 of Insider Weekends. Insider buying increased last week with insiders buying $29.17 million of stock compared to $6.38 million in the week prior. Selling also increased with insiders selling $757.96 million of stock last week compared to $578.34 million in the week prior.

Sell/Buy Ratio: The insider Sell/Buy ratio is calculated by dividing the total insider sales in a given week by total insider purchases that week. The adjusted ratio for last week decreased to 25.98. In other words, insiders sold  almost 26 times as much stock as they purchased. The Sell/Buy ratio this week compares favorably with the prior week, when the ratio stood at 90.65. We are calculating an adjusted ratio by removing transactions by funds and companies and trying as best as possible only to retain information about insiders and 10% owners who are not funds or companies.

Note: As mentioned in the first post in this series, certain industries have their preferred metrics such as same store sales for retailers, funds from operations (FFO) for REITs and revenue per available room (RevPAR) for hotels that provide a better basis for comparison than simple valuation metrics. However metrics like Price/Earnings, Price/Sales and Enterprise Value/EBITDA included below should provide a good starting point for analyzing the majority of stocks.

Notable Insider Buys:

1. Cheniere Energy, Inc. (LNG): $41.08

President and CEO Jack A. Fusco acquired 37,604 shares of this liquefied natural gas company, paying $39.89 per share for a total amount of $1.49 million. Mr. Fusco increased his stake by 14.00% to 306,180 shares with this purchase. 18,802 of these shares were purchased indirectly by Fusco Energy Investments, LLP.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Cheniere Energy, Inc. here.

2. Akamai Technologies, Inc. (AKAM): $57.89

Chief Executive Officer F Thomson Leighton acquired 17,456 shares of this content delivery and cloud infrastructure company, paying $57.28 per share for a total amount of $999,880. These shares were purchased indirectly through a trust.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Akamai Technologies, Inc. here.

3. Restoration Hardware Holdings, Inc. (RH): $30.42

Chairman & CEO Gary G. Friedman acquired 32,918 shares of this home furnishing company, paying $27.59 per share for a total amount of $908,208. Mr. Friedman increased his stake by 1.51% to 2,207,451 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Restoration Hardware Holdings, Inc. here.

4. Signet Jewelers Limited (SIG): $89.53

Shares of this specialty jewelry retailer (parent of Kay Jewelers, Jared The Galleria Of Jewelry, H.Samuel, and Ernest Jones) were acquired by 2 insiders:

• Director Helen McCluskey acquired 1,005 shares, paying $89.91 per share for a total amount of $90,363. Mr. McCluskey increased his stake by 19.36% to 6,197 shares with this purchase.
• Managing Director, UK Sebastian Hobbs acquired 500 shares, paying $91.72 per share for a total amount of $45,860. Mr. Hobbs increased his stake by 6.11% to 8,684 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Signet Jewelers Limited here.

5. Kingsway Financial Services Inc. (KFS): $5.3

Shares of this insurance company were acquired by 4 insiders:

• Executive Vice President John Taylor Fitzgerald acquired 18,625 shares, paying $5.31 per share for a total amount of $98,884. Mr. Fitzgerald increased his stake by 6.00% to 328,800 shares with this purchase.
• President and CEO Larry G. Swets acquired 390 shares, paying $5.35 per share for a total amount of $2,086. Mr. Swets increased his stake by 0.02% to 2,069,324 shares with this purchase.
• COO, CFO, and EVP William August Hickey Jr. acquired 280 shares, paying $5.35 per share for a total amount of $1,498. Mr. Hickey increased his stake by 0.10% to 294,706 shares with this purchase.
• Vice President Hassan Baqar acquired 132 shares, paying $5.35 per share for a total amount of $706. Mr. Baqar increased his stake by 0.09% to 148,208 shares with this purchase.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Kingsway Financial Services Inc. here.

You can view the full list of purchases from this Insider Buying page.

Notable Insider Sales:

1. ServiceNow, Inc. (NOW): $72.67

Chief Product Officer Frederic B. Luddy sold 150,000 shares of this software-as-a-service provider for $71.20, generating $10.68 million from the sale. These shares were sold indirectly through a trust.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for ServiceNow, Inc. here.

2. Apple Inc. (AAPL): $98.66

Senior Vice President Angela J. Ahrendts sold 35,797 shares of Apple for $100.00, generating $3.58 million from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Apple Inc. here.

3. Kansas City Southern (KSU): $97.84

Shares of this freight rail company were sold by 2 insiders:

• Sr VP & Chief Legal Officer William J. Wochner sold 26,521 shares for $98.32, generating $2.61 million from the sale.
• Senior Advisor to the CEO David L. Starling sold 5,100 shares for $98.88, generating $504,312 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Kansas City Southern here.

4. Workday, Inc. (WDAY): $79.97

Shares of this application software company were sold by 7 insiders:

• Chief Executive Officer Aneel Bhusri sold 10,353 shares for $79.06, generating $818,539 from the sale.
• Vice Chairman Michael A. Stankey sold 8,781 shares for $79.06, generating $694,247 from the sale.
• Co-President Mark S. Peek sold 6,904 shares for $79.05, generating $545,735 from the sale.
• Senior Vice President James Bozzini sold 4,603 shares for $79.04, generating $363,821 from the sale.
• Chairman David A. Duffield sold 3,699 shares for $79.07, generating $292,462 from the sale.
• SVP, General Counsel & Secty James P. Shaughnessy sold 1,842 shares for $79.05, generating $145,608 from the sale.
• Chief Financial Officer Robynne Sisco sold 897 shares for $79.01, generating $70,868 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for Workday, Inc. here.

5. United Rentals, Inc. (URI): $78.22

Shares of this equipment rental company were sold by 3 insiders:

• President and CEO Michael Kneeland sold 20,000 shares for $76.35, generating $1.53 million from the sale.
• Exec. VP & COO Matthew John Flannery sold 15,046 shares for $78.12, generating $1.18 million from the sale.
• Vice President, Controller Jessica Graziano sold 877 shares for $76.34, generating $66,953 from the sale.

You can view the list of recent insider transactions for United Rentals, Inc. here.

You can view the full list of sales from this Insider Sales page.

Disclaimer Clients of Signal Partners, LLC  and I may have positions in any of these stocks at any time. Please do your own due diligence before buying or selling any securities mentioned in this article. We do not warrant the completeness or accuracy of the content or data provided in this article.

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